


i've loved you three summers now, honey

by uneventfulhouses



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), In Control with Kelsey (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21975931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uneventfulhouses/pseuds/uneventfulhouses
Summary: Kelsey reaches to take the phone from Shane’s hand, and he lets her, and she types in the word confirmation and as the results begin to populate, Kelsey filters through them, until she sees one in particular that makes her breath catch in her throat, fingers frozen. She doesn’t click on it, and Shane snatches his phone away from her, and they stare at each other; she’s never seen panic in his eyes. Shane doesn’t scare easily. But here, his brown, Tennessee whiskey eyes are looking at her and then he looks away and Kelsey stares blindly at the television.or; kelsey finds out just how much shane loves her.
Relationships: Kelsey Impicciche/Shane Madej
Comments: 9
Kudos: 19
Collections: RareBuzzShips Holiday Event





	i've loved you three summers now, honey

**Author's Note:**

  * For [poiregourmande](https://archiveofourown.org/users/poiregourmande/gifts).
  * Inspired by [i'll try to talk refined (for fear that you find out how i'm imaginin' you)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21444766) by [poiregourmande](https://archiveofourown.org/users/poiregourmande/pseuds/poiregourmande). 



> i saw [this post](https://businessbabybergara.tumblr.com/post/189882102524/bamboo-muse-this-is-the-complete-opposite-to-all/) and then i wrote this. this is in the verse of poiregourmande's [professor/TA au](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21444766/). i loved this fic since the first time i read it and often think about this verse, and she was kind enough to allow me to steal into the verse and go wild. i didn't really go wild, but feelings, yo. 
> 
> (unbetaed so sorry about mistakes. work of fictions, yadda, yadda)
> 
> [ryan voice] let's get into it

Shutting off the bathroom light on her way out, Kelsey makes her way down the hallway into the living room, wearing one of Shane’s t-shirts and tiny shorts. It’d been a long day; her back aches from filing in the archives room in the museum for most of the day.

Shane’s sitting on the couch, same place she left him before her shower, but now, he’s scrolling through his phone, frowning.

“What’s wrong?” she says, moving to sit on the couch next to him, draping a thigh over one of his. His eyes flicker away from the screen of his phone to her leg, and--bless her--she’s been with this man so many times over the years, and yet, it still feels like the first time, sitting on his desk, asking, “ _ Can I kiss you, Professor? _ ” Kelsey feels herself flush when he looks at her. 

God, that had been years ago; she’s since graduated and found a job in historical research at a local museum. Shane still teaches and rather than meet in his office for stolen kisses, he meets her at home.

“I can’t find the itinerary for the Christmas gala, did you get a copy?” Shane asks, and Kelsey reaches for her phone on the coffee table, navigating to her email app to scroll through. She doesn’t think she’d received a copy, but she checks anyway, scrolling through, and then again, huffing breaths out of gentle frustration. Kelsey sets her phone down, and instead, sits closer to Shane. 

“Slow down,” she says. “It’s no wonder you can’t find it.” She giggles and she adores the way he smiles, eyes crinkled behind his glasses. It’s so far away from him being in front of a classroom, home soft, with a wrinkled comic tee, sleep pants, hair mussed from running his fingers through it so many times. He wears it longer now, so it’s just past his ears, curling slightly at the ends; she really likes it this way.

Kelsey reaches to take the phone from Shane’s hand, and he lets her, and she types in the word  _ confirmation _ and as the results begin to populate, Kelsey filters through them, until she sees one in particular that makes her breath catch in her throat, fingers frozen. She doesn’t click on it, and Shane snatches his phone away from her, and they stare at each other; she’s never seen panic in his eyes. Shane doesn’t scare easily. But here, his brown, Tennessee whiskey eyes are looking at her and then he looks away and Kelsey stares blindly at the television. 

It’s quiet for a moment, just staticy tension between the two of them, until they start  _ giggling _ . 

It was in Shane’s office that she told him she loved him. They’d just finished their Thai food, and Shane had gone back to grading papers, and when she looked over, his glasses were perched on his head, the corner of his red pen jabbed between his teeth, wholly engrossed with whatever paper he was grading. And she knew it before that moment, but something inside of Kelsey’s chest blossomed, bloomed like a thousand gardens. She felt springtime inside her ribcage, like her veins were vines, muscles and sinews made of petals and leaves. She just looked at him and all she could see was happiness. 

“I love you,” she said, looking at him, and he turned to look at her so fast  _ she _ was dizzy from it. 

“Pardon?” he’d said, and Kelsey laughed, shrugging her shoulders. 

“I love you,” she repeated, and the expression on Shane’s face softened and Kelsey felt hot underneath the heaviness of his gaze and then he was standing, and so was she, and Kelsey will swear up and down it was straight out of a movie, the way his arms wound their way around her waist and he kissed her like never before, under the gold light of his office. 

And when they’d broken apart, and she rested her head against his shoulder, he kissed her forehead and told her he loved her, too.

They didn’t stick around the office for very much longer. 

“Why are we laughing?” Shane says to her, and Kelsey shrugs her shoulders. 

But the email spoke volumes. An order confirmation from an engagement ring company. And maybe she’d read it incorrectly, but it feels a lot more like she’d seen it just right, considering the soft way he looks at her, eyes so brown she’s lost in them.

Gosh, an  _ engagement _ ring. Kelsey always thought of herself as someone who would marry, find a good man to settle down with. She hadn’t thought a silly crush on her college professor would lead her here, looking at him, smiling, because he wants to  _ marry _ her.

“I...don’t know,” she says, through breathless giggles, looking at him. And he shakes his head, dropping his phone to the couch. 

“But you do know,” he whispers, and her heart leaps in her chest, and she nods, and silence falls between them, but they keep staring at each other. 

“Is it here?” she whispers back. 

He nods.

“Is it hidden?” 

He nods again.

Kelsey purses her lips, and smiles vibrantly at him. “Can we play the Hot or Cold game?” she asks, setting her arm around his shoulder as she repositions herself to sit astride his lap, which he invites, hands settling warm on her thighs. 

“Absolutely not,” he says, grinning up at her. 

Kelsey fell in love with Shane’s house the second she’d stepped foot inside of it, her summer dress fluttering around her thighs in late afternoon sunlight, Shane’s hand in hers as he lead her inside.

It was an extension of his office, a look inside his mind. The house was small, but cozy, with worn furniture and stacks upon stacks of books. It was a favorite place for her.

So, when he’d asked her, invited her to live here, she didn’t think for a second about her breathless answer. 

“ _ Yes _ .” 

And they’d moved her things from the apartment she’d shared with a few friends, tucking her belongings between Shane’s thises and thats. 

Kelsey combs her fingers through his wild hair, soft between her fingers. 

“It’s indescribable how in love with you I am,” Shane whispers, and Kelsey leans in, touches her lips to his and says. 

“Try showing me instead.” 

Later, tucked against Shane’s side, resting her head against his shoulder, she traces soft circles over his chest. His breathing has evened, so she knows he’s nodded off into sleep, and she thinks it’s just as indescribable how much she loves him. It wasn’t a  _ surprise  _ that he wants to marry her. They’ve circled conversations about it, have talked about what they wanted for their future together. She’s brimming with excitement that it’s real, that this is how he thinks of her, a partner in life for the better part of forever. She knows she’ll become impatient waiting for him to ask, but just knowing the reality of their relationship, the direction they are going, that there is a glittering, gleaming little ring tucked away in a corner of their home makes her fall even further, if that’s even  _ possible _ . 

It’s the Christmas season and they have a plethora of gifts underneath their tree, and yet, the gift of  _ knowing _ beats ‘em all.

Full of love for this man who’d turned her whole world upside down with his brilliant, radiant mind, his gentle hands and easy conversation, she kisses softly the underside of his jaw. 

“I can hear you thinking about it,” Shane says, voice sleep soft. 

“I’m not,” she lies. “Just love you a lot.”

Shane hums, clutching her close, nosing at her temple. “Love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading. heart eyes all the time!


End file.
